Winter Wellness Series #3 - Water and other fun ideas!

Happy Friday everyone, and welcome to the conclusion of our Winter Wellness Series for 2020! I've enjoyed this little foray into a topic that I've become much more interested in over the past 6 months or so, and I hope that you enjoyed sharing it with me!

*hug*

I thought this week we could chat about other ways we try to stay fit and healthy, outside of our nutritional goals and exercise. Please do drop your suggestions in the comments! For me, I try to drink more water. Water flushes your body out in a healthy way, and helps you to feel fuller, longer. I've also wanted to try and experiment with protein shakes, especially in the mornings when I tend to eat sugary breakfast cereals, but that hasn't really gone anywhere. Let's start with water!

I've always kept a water bottle chilling in the refrigerator for when I want a cold drink (it's always enticing for me when it's super cold and waiting like that!), and I'm pretty good about drinking water every day. But I knew that I could improve. So I bought a new bottle water with a new goal in mind. Never one to take the easy road when the impossible road will do, I purchased this:

Bottled Joy 1 Gallon Water Bottle

Yeah. That's a gallon jug of water. When it's full, I can hardly lift it. 😂 Maybe if you're going to be hiking through the wilderness for days at a time, you'd need this water bottle, but this suburban librarian does NOT need one. I'm curently keeping it in my office for ease of using my Keurig machine and calling it a day.

I reapproached Amazon, and then settled on this cute little number:

Bottled Joy 32 oz Water Bottle

Now this is a good water bottle. It's 32 oz, and has a little timeline along the side so that you can track your intake throughout the day. If you fill it up twice a day, you'll drink a half gallon of water, which is a very worthy goal. It's much more manageable to carry with me throughout my day, and I love it.

*heart*

Then, when Anne and I were out shopping one day, I found these guys:

Fruit Slice reusable ice cubes

I mean, did you ever? These are reuseable ice cubes, and I love them so much I can hardly stand it. They really perk up your water, and keep it colder longer when you need to take your bottle on the go!

Isn't this SO ADORABLE?!

I'm just in love. I drink way more water now, and overall I feel much better throughout my day.

So, as I mentioned, I really want to experiment with protein shakes to take the place of the breakfast cereal I tend to quickly eat in the mornings. This experiment has not really gotten off the ground, but I had some protein powder leftover from a previous experiment, so I decided to use that instead of buying anything new until I found whether or not I liked it or not. Previously, I had just mixed with water and put shook it together in a regular water bottle. The result was: 😷

Oh my. It was not good. :-0 So, in an effort to further explore this topic, I bought this little guy:

BlenderBottle Classic Loop Top Shaker Bottle, 28 ounce, Clear/Blue

This comes with one of those wire balls that help to mix and distribute your powder and liquid better. I also used milk this time. I mean...

It was somewhat less pukey. But I have to say, it was still pretty chalky. I think the key is actually blending everything in a real blender, and also adding fresh fruit or other produce to add texture and taste. I have my eye on a little Magic Bullet thing for my birthday, I'll keep you posted. ;-) Does anybody drink protein shakes regularly and have products and/or recipes to share?

Also, I'd love to hear other wellness tips and ideas! Our little series of talks has really energized me as me move closer to spring, yay!

Next week, I'll be posting about some ideas for Lent and see if anyone would be interested in joining me for a fairly informal read or pray -along, or something of that nature. Stay tuned!